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I tried surfing too. I do prefer bodyboard
Surfing I’ve tried 3 times now, each time I just find it annoying waiting forever and a day for a wave to maybe stand for a couple of seconds or to be chucked out the front door! I think because I did so many years of BMX where it is non stop – do it anywhere (park, dirt, stree, etc) the slower pace of surfing doesnt do it for me.
Part of the appeal with surfing for me is sitting out the back watching the sun go down over the sea, not a thought in my mind apart from watching for the next set to roll in...
All these sports have one thing in common, whether you're descending a tricky singletrack, paddling into a 4ft wave, skimming along at 25mph scanning the lake looking for the next gust to boost your speed, carving a turn on a mountain in perfect powder... in that moment, nothing outside of the next 20 seconds exists - any work/life worries are not even in your mind, it's just you and the moment.
each time I just find it annoying waiting forever and a day for a wave
because I'm a data nerd, and track my surfing now with dawn patrol. on a day like the a week or so ago below, chest-head high on the sets, I catch a wave on average every 6 mins, ride it on average for ~60m (max distance 125m, max speed 17mph).
That's it! It forces you to focus on this one thing. Survival kicks in. That's what makes us happy.
Our lives are full of all this sht we don't need. We're not meant to live like this! We're happiest when we're doing things, hiking hills, swimming whatever. But that's no secret
Windsurfing for me, I starting again this summer after a 20y break.
I'd forgotten the buzz, the chilled out feeling after a good blasting session. Sure it's a bit more hassle carrying all the kit around / storing it, but so worth it.
Next year hopefully get to some bigger lakes / sea rather than the local gravel pit.
The lefts are obviously better than the rights there!
there is a great bank at mid tide at the moment, just runs and runs and runs. i'm getting much stronger on my backhand as a result.
saw this on facebook this morning. I'd like to think this is how I surf but i know it probably isnt...
this is probably more accurate:
Snowboarding is my most zen like experience, when it's good - but even a crap day snowboarding is ok 🙂
If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably do two winters a year.
The only people I know that have given up everything to partake in their passion are surfers.
I've met a lot of scuba divers who are living their dream.
That's another sport that can get you a rush - but mostly for the "this is sketchy and I could die" moments more than the exhilaration of movement.
Windsurfing for me, I starting again this summer after a 20y break.
I think I'd be bankrupt if I took up windsurfing again...
Live in Worthing and often watch the kitesurfers ripping around. Cycling costs me too much time and money already though so have always resisted. How much does it cost to get going kitesurfing? I'm assuming lessons are recommended to avoid the whole watery death thing?
Asking for a friend.
Live in Worthing and often watch the kitesurfers ripping around. Cycling costs me too much time and money already though so have always resisted. How much does it cost to get going kitesurfing? I’m assuming lessons are recommended to avoid the whole watery death thing?
Asking for a friend.
Wetsuit, harness, board, kite, plus sundries. Then some lessons. unless things have changed you'll start off just on kite control.
Just checked and packages with kite/board/lines etc start at 1200ish, wetsuit (probably a 5/3 for UK) another 200, harness 100, plus the lessons £350 for 5.5 hrs 1 on 1, all kit provided at a first look. So budget for £2k...
Oh no Strava for surfing not sure i want to go down that rabbit hole! Lol at the videos. I was watching some big wave body boarding vids yesterday and trying to visualise myself dropping down the face of a wave that steep. It's just nuts. Akin to redbull rampage and yes i agree with all the extreme sports the great appeal is that 'pure feeling of living completely in the moment' and all lifes bollix just melts away. Very restorative.
I wish it was easier to put up pics on here as I've taken some stunning pictures of immense waves here when the swell has been big. White horses with the spray off the back of them turning into rainbows.
he whole watery death thing
You do have to like being in the water though February North Sea is not quite Fuerte sunsets. That said what was frustrating about Sunday's session was that the waves were great - looong rides and and well overhead but I was getting basic things wrong with take off... That said I had a reef to myself 400m from nearest shoreline (just checked os maps: not subjective) which is pretty good social isolation, currents taking me away from the peak paddling back, but then right through the peak once I was out there. It's a long swim if you snap a leash, which I've done (I think on that spot, happens maybe once a year anyway). So comfortable in water is good.
Kite surfing? I struggle to do just one thing so flying a kite and riding a board I think I'll swerve. Hugely impressive seeing them in France, little sinewy guys and massive flights through the air. Only ever seen two in the NE. One a guy in beadnell bay travelling at speed face down across the sand, nose leaving a little furrow (I may have embellished). The other though, I was looking from the top of 100m cliffs at a massive swell with onshore wind (unsurfable) rolling over a local reef, and a kitesurfer came screaming out of nowhere down the coast, somehow took a couple of waves on the first couple of reefs, and then just vanished at speed down the coast like I'd dreamed it. Maybe 5/7 years ago and seen nothing similar since. Amazing.
I'd get your predicament if it was surfing, not bodyboarding?!!?!
Jokes aside.
I learnt to surf as a teenager as my parents had a caravan in South Wales. I continued through Uni as the surf was easy to get to. Even then there would be **** all decent surf for ages. And i hated cold winter surfing when waves are best. Trips abroad were the best times i had on the board. I live on the south coast now, 2.5 to 3 hours from any surf so surfing doesn't happen anymore.
I've been riding MTB longer and things like surfing when there is surf and snowboarding on a powder day can be amazing and possibly better than a day mtbing.
But MTB is more reliable, especially for where i live. I can plan on going riding, and the hill is there whereas I can plan a three hour trip to go surfing and it can be blown out shit.
Surfing for me is one of those things you do if you're lucky to have quick access to decent surf. It's a shame but I've got other hobbies... Each to their own, you don't have to justify your preference.
I’d get your predicament if it was surfing, not bodyboarding?!!?!
glad someone said it 🙂 Or longboarding...
I've been surfing and windsurfing for over 20 years and it takes complete priority over any other sport I do. Nowadays I only surf up on Scotland's west coast and in the Caithness area as I live on the border and have easy access to many decent spots. Heading up to Thurso the moment the c-19 restrictions are lifted as the winter swell up there produces some massive waves.
Kitesurfing isn't cheap to get into, and like mountain biking the latest and best gear keeps coming out and tempting you to upgrade! Unlike surfing and mountain biking, some lessons early on are fairly essential as the stakes are fairly high if you don't know what you are doing. I don't think I get a better feeling than being out in big winds and big waves, you feel elated and awe inspired at the same time, and when your timing hits and you boost 10m or more off a big wave is just the best feeling ever. Added to that you can surf the waves when you feel like it as well.
@andylc has covered the kiting points well. It’s expensive to get in to as you generally need at least a couple of kites and ideally three or four to cover all wind ranges. I’ve currently got 6m, 9m, 12m and a 15m kite, a twin tip board and a surf board. Couple of sets of lines, a few wetsuits, harness and you are looking at £5k+ of kit without blinking.
But, you can do it a lot cheaper. Second hand kit is easy to get hold of if you’ve got someone to advise on what sort of kite to go for.
And lessons are a must. I’ve seen people trying to teach their friends or partners on the beach which has made me wince and occasionally intervene as genuinely worried for their safety.
But getting out in good conditions, at a nice quiet spot is simply superb. I’ve kited a fair bit on Tiree in Scotland and it’s better than any of the other UK spots I’ve been to.
Kitesurfing vs windsurfing will also give you more time on the water, for windsurfing once you get a bit of experience you need a solid force 4/force 5 for it to be good and not lugging 10m sail about, that's 16mph-20mph upwards. Kitesurfing you can go in much lighter winds, probably down to about 10mph nowadays.
I was once given stats on how much time you needed to spend in the water with surfing.
About 15hrs a month you pretty much stayed at your level of fitness and ability. Less and maybe you’d start going backwards.
That is time in the water in reasonable waves not some shitty shore dump, but at least your paddling out would help you keep fit.
So when you live in Oxfordshire it’s a bit of a problem. windsurfing filled a huge part of my life and later kitesurfing did to a much smaller degree.
I still love the feeling of a perfectly timed gibe that loses no speed or kicks up a huge rooster. Add even a small wave and just crack up the pleasure.
But if I could surf? I’d take that a millions times over windsurfing.
Same here, I was living in cambridgeshire and doing drives with a mate down to croyde/saunton etc from 5:30/6am on a sunday morning, in the water at 10am, lunch, on the road by 4pm, home by 10pm.
I took up windsurfing because it just wasn't doable long term. My local windsurfing place was rutland water, 25 minutes away.
Similar to MTB, I was riding motorbikes during summer for fun, but wanted something to do in winter, MTB seemed perfect. Now MTB has taken over and I'll probably sell my one remaining motorbike come the spring.
was once given stats on how much time you needed to spend in the water with surfing.
About 15hrs a month you pretty much stayed at your level of fitness and ability. Less and maybe you’d start going backwards.
probably about right. on average i probably surf 1-2 times a week. some weeks 3-4, some not at all. I've surfed a lot more this year and my speed and flow on a wave has definitely improved, backhand particularly as its far easy to get a left peak to yourself than a right...
new board that really clicked has helped.
Kitesurfing vs windsurfing will also give you more time on the water, for windsurfing once you get a bit of experience you need a solid force 4/force 5 for it to be good and not lugging 10m sail about, that’s 16mph-20mph upwards. Kitesurfing you can go in much lighter winds, probably down to about 10mph nowadays.
Yep, my light wind 15m kite and surfboard get me going about 12mph. A foil would be even lower; basically if you can launch and keep the kite in the air you’ll get going if you’re experienced enough. Light wind sessions are great fun too as generally get flatter water, remember a great summer session once at Brancaster where I was the only one out in glorious sunshine and light winds.
Joe and John I'm sure you're joking but I've no time for snobbery about what board you're on and there is certainly no elitism around it here in Portugal. Watching the local body borders hitting the wedge at Beliche when it's pumping is an awesome sight. It's a perfect body board wave hollow but squat so no surfer will ride out of it and the guys take off so deep inside it you think there's no way they are coming out the other end. Lots riding drop knee out here too and some amazing ariel acrobatics.
Bouldering is the one for me, but I think it's great that we all find one or more activities that resonates with us.
I enjoy the all encompassing nature of bouldering at my limit. I've spent 15 sessions over 3 months on the same bit of rock to top out a boulder, generally at night with lamps when the air is coolest and friction is at its best. When not climbing, i'm still thinking about how I can adjust my body positions to make the crux moves work, i'm training the specific positions on the training wall I built in my garage to replicate outdoor boulders, doing one arm pullups off the door frame every time I walk into the kitchen, and when I get to the kitchen, eating the right foods to keep my strength:weight ratio optimal.
Then it's all about keep turning up, sticking with it and not letting the thought that 'this one is just too hard for me' win out over persistence.
It's these project boulders that I enjoy the most, but if it's a thrill i'm seeking then I can always go and do something that's both high and physically/technically difficult:
I’m sure you’re joking but I’ve no time for snobbery about what board you’re on
except for SUP's. they can do one 😉
I windsurfed regularly for best part of20 years. Sold all my kit 10 years ago and now mountain bike mostly as well as the odd surf or snowboard session when I can.
For me the big rush of the first time I got a short board planing, flat -out with a smallish sail, is the one that will stick with me.
I can now ride from the door as opposed to driving 2.5 hours first and being over 60, can get a rush much closer to our local a+e. The level of rush is all controlled by the severity or speed of the decent .”
Kitesurfing vs windsurfing will also give you more time on the water, for windsurfing once you get a bit of experience you need a solid force 4/force 5 for it to be good and not lugging 10m sail about, that’s 16mph-20mph upwards. Kitesurfing you can go in much lighter winds, probably down to about 10mph nowadays.
windfoiling for the light wind days...flying in 10kts, 15kts you're on a 5.5m
I’m sure you’re joking but I’ve no time for snobbery about what board you’re on
except for SUP’s. they can do one 😉
...and those bloody canoes (as I like to call kayaks, waveskis etc etc). And what about kneeboards? Come on, it was just a little troll 🙂
he wedge at Beliche when it’s pumping
I have been pile-driven into the sand at beliche a few times without really knowing what happened. One second you're paddling for a wave and whomp!
Yep, I don't think I've ever been more on the edge of control, than when hitting full planing speed on a 110l board, feet not in the straps. Much like this guy 😀
It's such a sudden increase of speed from 'ok, I'm going quite quickly now' to 'OH MY GOD WARPSPEED!!!!'
Yep, I don’t think I’ve ever been more on the edge of control
you should try sailing out at Hookipa 🙂
doing one arm pullups off the door frame every time I walk into the kitchen,
wasn't going to let this pass without taking the piss in some way, but then did a quick google/youtube stalk and there's the Keel... So. I'm going to guess Ringpiece was a week last tuesday late eve as a group of mtb lights slooowly edged down the moor?
you should try sailing out at Hookipa 🙂
There would not be a shred on control there... For us mere mortals, I mean 😀
Hookipa, Red Bull Hardline, surfing a 10ft swell, all things that will never happen for for majority of us.
Kitesurfing: lessons are a MUST!!
I have an 8,9,10 & 12 (catering for me and my g/f and one twinnie and one surfboard.
Pretty much all either 1 season second hand or purchased new thru a pro who gets them cost. I'll sell when 3-4 years old.
You only need about 2 kites and one twinnie...
I probably would have 9 & 12 for 90% of days in all honesty. If its <14kn, it's time to do something else and >35kn, probably not sensible to go out (I'd be on my 8 then).
There would not be a shred on control there… For us mere mortals, I mean 😀
Hookipa
definitely a bucket-list thing ticked off! the anticipation was the worst thing
GPS tracking for Surfing, how cool's that, won't catch on in bikes !
Is there a Strava for surfers ?
except for SUP’s. they can do one
Ha yeah had a few out with all the other board types the other day they can certainly snipe a wave from way out the back but the long boarders do this too.
Such a great vibe out here with all board types together and only seen a couple of agro drop ins. I fear it may not be the same experience in the crowded South of uk when I visit in Spring.
John thankfully I've avoided the beach slam experience so far at Beliche. Favourite surf spot here has been Tonel beach out to the right of the big rock if you know it.
I only get a kick if it has 800+ horsepower and flies.
But MTB gets way more fun once you're comfortable and loose on bigger stuff. Personally, big stuff on the bike scares me less than the thought of getting pulled out to sea and my bloated corpse being fished out by the RNLI. People drown kayaking and surfing a lot more than people die from MTB.
I haven't ridden at all for a few years....keen to get back into though. However, powder day on a Snowboard beats everything else for me. I'd rather a day hiking in the mountains than a day riding at a trail centre too though.
Tonel beach out to the right of the big rock if you know it.
Been a while, but yeah. Bit of a double up type peak too in the window by the rock? But yep I surfed away down the beach. Stayed in Sagres a couple of times for a week or so. Nice area though not a lot in the village. I think Castelejo's where I had best sessions, rocky point on the right with a rip to speed you out, nice right handers. And Zavial, though a bit intimidating on the peak and difficult getting a wave with a pack of good surfers. I cannot overemphasise that I'm pretty shite at the actual surfing speed and coordination side of things, and age and achey knees are only taking things in one direction...
Thats the thing . 100m from the garage to the water means I can be home from work to on the water in under 15mins. I have garage rammed with about 12 sails , 5 boards , booms , massts , wetsuits
plus 3 road bike and 2 mountain bikes
The sal****er atmosphere rusts chains quickly though.
and I am still not good. I can gybe and tack and nearly back loop. Wave riding is coming on but we just dont get enough days when its 16kn+ and theres a rideable wave . Then I wil always rig to go fast as going fast = more air and more air is ace. Till you flat land from 12ft up and snap the board in half which means a long swim.
Will take a powder day over any windsurfing session though , fat skis , decent gear , shovel beeper and probe and as steep and as deep as you like